, for instance, the house select committee on energy independence and global warming created in 2007 as a forum for confronting the economic and security challenges of our dependence on foreign fuels. when republicans took controlf the house of reprentatives in 2011, they disbanded that committee. end of discussion. between may, 2011, and december, 2012, our colleagues in the house of representatives, henry waxman and bobby rush, who were the democratic ranking members of the subcommittee on energy and commerce and of the subcommittee on energy and power, wrote 21 letters, 21 letters to chairman fred upton and ed whitfield requesting hearings on climate change. to date, there has been no response, no hearings. end of discussion. house republicans have tried to prevent the department of the interior and the department of agriculture from funding their climate adaptation plans. commonsense efforts to preserve our resources, protect our farmers and save taxpayer dollars. but no, end of discussion. and i'm sad to say it's not just the house of representatives. in the senate, in the environment and